Telephone-switchboard.



H. H. LOWRY.

TE LEPHONE SWITCHBOARD. APPLICATION FILED 0CT.I2 I915- 2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

- wig;

H. H. LOWRY.

TELEPHONE SWITCHBOARD. APPLICATION FILED OCT. 1.2; 1915' 1,231,629.,Patented July 3; 1917.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

rrnn srarns narnnr onnrbn.

HITER H. LOWRY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TOWESTERN ELECTRIC COMPANY, INCORPORATED, A CORPORATION OF NEW' YORK.

TELEPHONE-SWITCHBOARD.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 3, 191W.

Application fi1ed. October 12, 1915. Serial No. 55,393.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Hrrnn I-I. LOWRY, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Telephone- Switchboards,of which the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description.

This invention relates to telephone exchange switchboard equipments,andmore particularly to exchange equipments in which there are aplurality of operators positions, each including a plurality ofswitchboard sections.

The object of this invention in general is to provide equipment for suchexchange which will be flexible and easily changed to meet differentservice requirements without a complete change in wiring and equipment.

In accordance with the general features of this invention, the separatesections of the equipment are made divisible with a portion, which willbe standard for all service conditions, remaining fixed, while theportion carrying the apparatus and equipment to be changed is readilyremovable. More specifically, the upper part of the sections containingthe line and multiple jacks is made standard for all equipments, and thelower portion of the section containing the apparatus associated withthe cord circuits is made easily removable and interchangeable.

In the drawings illustrating this invention, Figure 1 is a view infrontelevation of a plurality of switchboard sections to which the inventionis applied; Fig. 2 is a view in side elevation of one of the sectionsshown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view, with parts in section,illustrating details of the invention; Fig. 4; is a fragmentary detailview showing the positions separated; and Fig. 5 is a detail sectionalview of parts of the section.

As shown in the drawings, the switchboard section is composed of anupper portion 5 and lower portion 6. The upper portion 5 is built arounda generally rectangular frame, two of the vertical members of which aredesignated by 7 and 8 and a horizontal member by 9. 10, 11 and 12designate two vertical members and a horizontal member of the frame ofthe lower portion. The upper portion 5 is completed with suitablepaneling and molding, and has mounted in its front a plurality of jackstrips 15, 15 containing jacks with which are connected the cables,including the multiple and line wires. A piling strip 16 for supportingthe jack strips in proper alinement is secured to the lower. horizontalframe member 9 by means of corner braces, such as 17, shown in Figs. 3,1 and 5.

Mounted upon the lower portion 6 of the section is a plugshelf 20 towhich is hinged a. keyshelf 21, and a cordshelf 22 to which one end of acord 23 is attached, the other end being attached to a plug 24 adaptedto cooperate with the jacks in the upper portion of the section, as iswell understood. The cordshelf 22 is secured to the upper horizontalframe member 12 of the lower portion by means of angle braces, such asshown at 25 in Figs. 3 and 4. An angle brace 26 secured to the framemember 12 is adapted to have the piling strip 16 secured thereto bymeans of screws.

When the two parts of the section are in place, the frame member 9 ofthe upper portion 5 rests upon spacing blocks 30 and 31 on the framemember 12 of the lower portion, and is held in place thereon by means ofthe plate 35 at the rear of the section, by the angle brace 26 at theforward side of the section and screws 36 extending through the pilingstrip 16 into the plugshelf.

In order to separate the portions of the section for the purpose ofsubstituting a new lower portion, it will be necessary only to removethe screws from the lower end of the plate 35, remove the screws fromthe angle brace 25 to permit the cordshelf 22 to be dropped down intothe lower portion 6, re move the screws 36 extending throughthe pilingstrip 16 into the plugshelf, remove the screws from the horizontalportion of the angle brace 26 and knock out the spacing blocks 30 and31. The lower portion will then be readily removable from the upper,which may be supported by the adjacent section or sections, or by jacks,until a new lower portion is substituted for the one removed. The partsmay then be secured in their original position.

It will be understood that the lower portion contains only suchapparatus as is necessary to cooperate with the cord circuits, withpossibly some battery leads which may be readily removable.

Th main advantages of a structure sueh as described are that inmulti-section olhces it may become desirable to switch over from oneclass of service to another, which will require only a change in cordcircuits, in which case it will be convenient to substitute for thelower portion of the section one which is equipped with the proper cordcircuits, or in already existing equipments it may be desirable tointerchange switching sections, and this invention makes it possible todo so with the minimum amount of work. Further, such a structure is ofadvantage from a manufacturing standpoint since the upper portion may bemade standard for nearly all classes of systems and carried in stockready for shipment, and the lower portions may be made up completelywired and shipped separately. There is also a decided advantage inshipping. Many other advantages are also present as will be readilyapparent to those skilled in the art.

lVhat is claimed is:

1. In a telephone switchboard equipment, in combination a plurality ofswitchboard sections each comprising two portions, one

of said portions of each equipment being permanently wired for severalclasses of service, and each of the other portions being wired fordilierent classes of service and interchangeable, whereby any one of thelatter portions may be moved into position to cooperate with any of saidpermanently wired portions.

2. In a telephone switchboard equipment, a section comprising twoportions, one of which is permanently wired for line and multiple jacks,the other of which contains the apparatus andconnection for linkcircuits to cooperate with said jacks, said second named portion beingremovable from said first named portion, wherebylink circuits wired fordifferent classes of service may be readily substituted for others in anexchange equipment without disturbing the apparatus and connectionstherefor in either the permanently wired portion or the removableportion.

lnwitness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this 7th day of OctoberA.D.,

HITER H. LOWRY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Gommissioner of Patents Washington, 1). G.

